Lubbock High School Technology Department

AP Computer Science Principles offers a multidisciplinary approach to teaching the underlying principles of computation. The course will introduce students to the creative aspects of programming, abstractions, algorithms, large data sets, the Internet, cybersecurity concerns, and computing impacts. AP Computer Science Principles also gives students the opportunity to use current technologies to create computational artifacts for both self-expression and problem solving. Together, these aspects of the course make up a rigorous and rich curriculum that aims to broaden participation in computer science.

The course introduces students to computer science with fundamental topics that include problem solving, design strategies and methodologies, organization of data (data structures), approaches to processing data (algorithms), analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications of computing. The course emphasizes object-oriented and imperative problem solving and design using the Java language. These techniques represent proven approaches for developing solutions that can scale up from small, simple problems to large, complex problems.

This course goes beyond the CS-A curriculum through a more formal and more in-depth study of algorithms, data structures, and data abstraction. For example, binary trees and the use of recursive data structures and dynamically allocated structures are examined.